Yesterday, the credit company disclosed a hacker had accessed the personal information of current cardholders as well as card applicants.
“The bank added that based on in-house analysis,” CNBC says, “the event affected about 100 million people in the United States and approximately 6 million in Canada.”
The FBI’s already nabbed a suspect, one Paige A. Thompson (no word if she has a dragon tattoo).
And Capital One’s issued some guidelines to determine if you’ve been affected.
- Capital One should notify you if your personal information’s been compromised… and offer fraud protection and alerts. (But don’t just rely on them.)
- Monitor your account activity; make sure there are no unusual charges.
- Beware of phishing scams, including emails from “bank officials” requesting you verify account information or asking you to confirm/change passwords. (Note: “Capital One is not calling customers to ask for credit card or account information or Social Security numbers over the phone or via email.”)
- Report phishing activity -- including emails and phone calls -- at abuse@capitalone.com.
Bottom line: You’re your best advocate. Stay vigilant in cyberspace
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